Stolen mobile phone bills cap to be introduced

[Michael Browne]

A cap on the cost of bills from stolen mobile phones is to be introduced after the government reached agreement with four operators to end "shock bills", the culture secretary Maria Miller will announce.

 

As the government steps up its response to Labour's campaign on the cost of living, Miller will say that the four mobile phone companies have also agreed to stop unexpected price rises in the middle of a contract.

 

The agreement with EE, Three, Virgin Media and Vodafone is almost identical to the plans outlined last week by Helen Goodman, the shadow communications minister, who announced plans to end the "great phone rip-off".

 

http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2013/dec/03/stolen-mobile-phone-bills-cap

 

 

 

Here are details of the new measures to protect mobile phone users from "shock bills", which are expected to be enforced from next spring

 

 

 

• A new liability cap - expected to be £50 - on mobiles that are lost or stolen
  

 

• A right to be informed if prices rise mid-contract
  

 

• A right to break off the contract without penalty if they don't want to pay higher rates
  

 

BT, Sky and TalkTalk have agreed to support Government efforts to eliminate EU roaming charges by 2016.

[MaxxPower]

All long overdue really, and the guaranteed right to cancel if there is a mid-contract price rise is a big step. Hopefully it will make the networks think twice about their advertising and trying to raise bills mid-contract. I'm sure they'll still try it though, hoping that either people wont be aware of this new right, or that there'll be a time limit on it and people will simply forget to do it in time.

[jas88]

BT, Sky and TalkTalk have agreed to support Government efforts to eliminate EU roaming charges by 2016.

 

A strange list to be taking action over mobile roaming fees: Sky don't even offer mobile services in the first place, while BT and TalkTalk's mobile offerings both consist of reselling Vodafone's services, giving them little or no control over roaming charges!

 

Three UK have taken action to eliminate roaming charges entirely for a list of countries (not just EU ones, either) where they have suitable agreements in place with roaming operators, though, which is welcome - perhaps following the lead of T-Mobile in the US, which eliminated them for almost all countries in October. Their rivals seem to be feeling the heat on roaming charges too, so hopefully Three won't be alone for long.